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IMDbPro

Hardy Krüger(1928-2022)

  • Actor
  • Writer
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Hardy Krüger
A British banker hires a group of British mercenaries to rescue a deposed African President from the hands of a corrupt African dictator.
Play trailer3:47
The Wild Geese (1978)
8 Videos
84 Photos
Hardy Kruger was born Eberhard August Franz Ewald Krüger in Wedding, Berlin, thee son of Auguste (Meier) and Max Krüger. At thirteen years, he became a member of the "Hitler Jugend" (Hitler Youth), as did all 13-year-old boys in Germany then. The purpose of the organization was to prepare the boys for military service. At age 15, Hardy made his film debut in a German picture (Junge Adler (1944)), but his acting career was interrupted when he was drafted into the German army in 1944 at age 16 and posted to an infantry regiment.

Years later, Hardy related how he "hated that [Nazi] uniform." During the filming of A Bridge Too Far (1977) in which he portrayed a Nazi general, he wore a top-coat over his S.S. uniform between takes so as "not to remind myself of my childhood in Germany during W.W.II." It is said, that during his war years, Hardy was captured and taken prisoner by U.S. forces but attempted to escape thrice, the third time successfully.

After the war, Hardy returned to acting, and eight years later was "discovered" by foreign film distributor J. Arthur Rank who promptly cast him in three British pictures, practically filmed back-to-back: The One That Got Away (1957), Bachelor of Hearts (1958) and Chance Meeting (1959), in which he appeared simply as a foreigner and not a German, as was usually the case. Following the release of these films, Hardy's career took off. Despite anti-German sentiment that still prevailed in postwar Europe, Hardy, described as "ruggedly handsome" and a "blond heartthrob," became an international favorite, paving the way to his first American role as co-star with John Wayne in the Tanganyika-shot wildlife adventure Hatari! (1962).

Hardy was so taken aback by the beauty of the land, that he bought the film's location ("Momilla Farm") and built a small home for himself and a small bungalow hotel for tourists to see the animals. Hunting was forbidden on the property, and, later, a cattle farm was started with the meat being sold to local hotels. Hardy described his home there as "a sort of African Walden where I can get away from the world from time to time."

In 1979, due to the dissolution of the alliance of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika), the border with Kenya was closed and remained so for half a decade which caused a serious decline in tourism. The business aspects of his property were shut down for a period of time, but eventually things picked up and the place was transformed into a proper tourist hotel, known (fittingly) as Hatari Lodge.

Fluent in English, French and German, Hardy found himself in much demand by British, French, American and German producers and became more selective in his scripts. "I'd rather sit out a picture than take a role I don't think is right for me" he would later say. He died in January 2022, in Palm Springs, California, 38 years after his last film credit.
BornApril 12, 1928
DiedJanuary 19, 2022(93)
BornApril 12, 1928
DiedJanuary 19, 2022(93)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos84

Hardy Krüger in The One That Got Away (1957)
Hardy Krüger in Alibi (1955)
Hardy Krüger in Alibi (1955)
Liselotte Pulver and Hardy Krüger in Ich und Du (1953)
Hardy Krüger in Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Hardy Krüger in Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Hardy Krüger in Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Patricia Gozzi and Hardy Krüger in Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Patricia Gozzi and Hardy Krüger in Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Patricia Gozzi and Hardy Krüger in Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Hardy Krüger and Malka Ribowska in Sundays and Cybèle (1962)
Anne-Marie Coffinet, Nicole Courcel, Hardy Krüger, Lisette Lebon, and André Oumansky in Sundays and Cybèle (1962)

Known for

A Bridge Too Far (1977)
A Bridge Too Far
7.4
  • Maj. Gen. Ludwig(as Hardy Kruger)
  • 1977
Hatari! (1962)
Hatari!
7.1
  • Kurt Muller(as Hardy Kruger)
  • 1962
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Barry Lyndon
8.1
  • Capt. Potzdorf(as Hardy Kruger)
  • 1975
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
The Flight of the Phoenix
7.5
  • Heinrich Dorfmann(as Hardy Kruger)
  • 1965

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Hardy Krüger and Devid Striesow in Familiengeheimnisse - Liebe, Schuld und Tod (2011)
    Familiengeheimnisse - Liebe, Schuld und Tod
  • War and Remembrance (1988)
    War and Remembrance
  • Die Jungs im Herbst
  • Nicole Heesters and Heinz Reincke in Geschichten aus der Heimat (1983)
    Geschichten aus der Heimat
  • Slagskämpen (1984)
    Slagskämpen
  • Sean Connery in Wrong Is Right (1982)
    Wrong Is Right
    • (as Hardy Kruger)
  • Feine Gesellschaft - beschränkte Haftung (1982)
    Feine Gesellschaft - beschränkte Haftung
  • Blue Fin (1978)
    Blue Fin
    • (as Hardy Kruger)
  • Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, and Hardy Krüger in The Wild Geese (1978)
    The Wild Geese
    • (as Hardy Kruger)
  • A Bridge Too Far (1977)
    A Bridge Too Far
    • (as Hardy Kruger)
  • À chacun son enfer (1977)
    À chacun son enfer
  • Jason Robards in The Spy Who Never Was (1976)
    The Spy Who Never Was
  • Montana Trap (1976)
    Montana Trap
  • Barry Lyndon (1975)
    Barry Lyndon
    • (as Hardy Kruger)
  • David Niven, Toshirô Mifune, Irene Tsu, and Kazuhito Andô in Paper Tiger (1975)
    Paper Tiger
    • (as Hardy Kruger)

Writer

  • Die Jungs im Herbst
  • Nicole Heesters and Heinz Reincke in Geschichten aus der Heimat (1983)
    Geschichten aus der Heimat

Producer

  • Zwei unter Millionen (1961)
    Zwei unter Millionen

Videos8

Trailer
Trailer 3:35
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:16
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:56
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:49
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:47
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 3:08
Official Trailer
Hatari!
Trailer 2:59
Hatari!
Barry Lyndon
Trailer 2:08
Barry Lyndon

Personal details

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    • Official Site
    • April 12, 1928
    • Wedding, Berlin, Germany
    • January 19, 2022
    • Palm Springs, California, USA(undisclosed)
    • 1978 - January 19, 2022 (his death)
    • Christiane Krüger
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Print Biographies
    • 1 Interview
    • 1 Article
    • 5 Pictorials
    • 14 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    He worked with Maria Schell in As Long as You're Near Me (1953) and her younger brother Maximilian Schell in A Bridge Too Far (1977).

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